15. Briefly describe the role of the autonomic nervous system in human physiology. What are the two divisions of this system? The autonomic nervous system regulates the function of organs that have involuntary responses. The two divisions of the autonomic nervous system are the parasympathetic (rest and digest) and the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system.
Endogenous pacemakers are body clocks that are internal to our biological systems, the most important being the superchiasmatic nucleus (SCN) which is sensitive to light and receives information via the optic nerve and send this info to the pineal gland, which controls the production of melatonin. Melatonin is vital to the sleep-wake cycle because the hormone induces sleep by inhibiting the brain mechanisms that promote wakefulness. Circadian rhythms are also controlled by exogenous zeitgebers, which are external factors that give an indication of time e.g. daylight, therefore controlling the biological rhythm to be in time with the world. Research has been conducted into the role of endogenous pacemakers by removing external cues from participants by using temporal isolation methods and allowing the free-running biological clock to run unaffected.
In addition, they strapped him into robotic harness, helping him to walk on ground. After six weeks of remedy, because of the nerve connection between the brain and spinal cord, the rat became able to walk and run, too. Professor Moses from New York University is one of research members. Since the findings are based on basic research for decades,
Intervening variable used in the book are classified into independent and dependent variables. Independent variables are those manipulated by the experimenter. For ex- ample, not allowing rats to have any water for several hours would create an independent variable called hours of deprivation. Dependent variables are those observed by the ex- perimenter. For example, one could observe how much water a rat drinks.
The research suggests that capacity of short term memory could only be enlarged by grouping items together known as chunking. By chunking information, we are more likely able to remember it whether in single or combined forms which is why it’s known as the magical number seven plus or minus two. However, the experiment could also be criticised in the sense that there could have been experimenter bias and demand characteristics. It also isn’t ecologically valid since people don’t have to memorise random letter and numbers all the time. Nevertheless,
Procedural memory-the deep slow-wave stages happens in the last two hours of sleep, declarative-the same as procedural, but falls during the first two hours of sleep. He states that when we learn new skills after 24 hours of not sleeping, in a week the information will diminish. Kotler blames educators in encouraging the sleeplessness. The article also looks at the eating habits of the college students. A survey at Tufts University finds found that 50 percent of students are lots of fat and over 7o percent ate a significant amount of saturated fats.
Without melatonin, we would have severe insomnia and various negatives effects in behavior can be seen. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus is ultimately responsible for regulating sleep patterns as it sends signals to the pineal glands for the production of melatonin according to our body clock. However, our endogenous pacemaker can be disrupted by the abnormal light rhythm to some extent. The presence of light will be detected by the SCN through the retina and
And they spent another five days, over two weeks; the mice were given their IV on experimental days. During the experimental days, the mice were: firstly injected with the IV and allowed thirty minutes for the IV to become active. Secondly, pit into restraints for one half hour, and thirdly removed from the restraints. Finally, one half hour later, placed in the Barnes Maze for testing. After those five experimental days, the mice were given a non- stressed probe trial in which the escape box was removed from the Barners Maze, and the maze was split up into quadrants.
The limbic system regulates body temperature, blood pressure, blood sugar level, and other housekeeping activites. The limbic system contains the Hippocampus, the amygdala and the hypothalamus. Some researchers of memory focus their studies on the limbic system. Memory function is partly organized by the hippocampus which collects and relays memory information to other layers of the brain. Memory-impairing conditions like Alzheimer’s
After all, a little bit of fantasy can lead us to achieve great things. "It is our intention creates our reality", as quoted by the author and lecturer Wayne Dyer. This means that our actions create what we are as individuals. As Dr. Seuss once said, "Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in ingredien life. It is a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope, and allows us to not take life too seriously. "